Tag Archives | US Air Force

Every once in a while, a copy of the US Air Combat Command’s “Combat Edge” flight safety magazine lands on my desk; today was that day this quarter. Following on after items about F-4 ops in Vietnam, helicopter maintainers and bird-scarers, the “awards of distinction” section caught my attention with an entry about US Air Force U-2 Dragon […]

The US Air Force says that it has discovered the root cause of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor’s oxygen problems. It was basically what I reported before (first!), the Combat Edge upper-pressure garment’s breathing regulator/anti-g (BRAG) valve is the main culprit along with the hose and connections to the aircraft. They’re hoping to have the […]

Lockheed Martin has released images showing the first night-time inflight refuelling sortie involving an F-35, with the milestone having been achieved on 22 March using conventional take-off and landing aircraft AF-4. Flown from Edwards AFB in California by US Air Force test pilot Lt Col Peter Vitt, the Lightning II is shown alongside the Boeing […]

South Korea’s Kunsan air base on 2 March played host to a remarkable “Elephant Walk” demonstration with Lockheed Martin F-16s from the Republic of Korea Air Force and the US Air Force. I’m not sure how many aircraft took part in total, but reckon there are about 48 on show in the US Air Force […]

The US Air Force has finally confirmed the KC-X tanker contract award will slip into early 2011. Also, according to the USAF, the delay has nothing to do with this new bombshell by Defense News editor Vago Muradian. USAF Sent Bid Info to Wrong Tanker Rivals By VAGO MURADIAN Published: 19 Nov 2010 16:23 Earlier […]

Lockheed Martin today bravely faced a packed briefing room fully of reporters inside their chalet at the Singapore Airshow. I will give Lockheed VP Steve O’Bryan credit for taking our onslaught of skepticism. It would have been easier to cancel the event given the F-35 program’s leadership and development turmoil that started on Monday. There […]

The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc MQ-9 Reaper will rule the US Air Force fleet of medium-altitude unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) through the middle of the next decade. The USAF’s newly-released UAS flight flight plan shows the Reaper’s capability will steadily expand with the arrival of new payloads, such as the Gorgon Stare sensor in […]

Bloomberg columnist Celestine Bohlen this morning proposes a radical solution to the “A400M nightmare”: Have Europe agree to dump the troubled airlifter and buy US-made C-17s and C-130Js. In exchange, somehow force the US Air Force to agree to buy an all-Airbus tanker fleet (presumably without competition)! The Paris-based Bohlen writes: There may be a […]

Two Japan policy experts have written an excellent piece for the Japan Times on the F-22 export issue. The idea of exporting F-22s to Tokyo was thought to have died two years ago, but suddenly revived in the past six weeks even as the F-22 production line’s survival is in doubt. But the Japan Times […]

Mandy Smithberger, an investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, has posted the first summary of the F-22 stealth fraud lawsuit. She concludes: “If the allegations are true, the justification for the whole program may be in question.”Here’s more: This of course is not the first time that the real and practicalcapability of the stealth […]